#FamilyAdminDay: The holiday of the family tech supporter

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On December 26th, a sigh of relief goes through many living rooms. With Christmas as the highlight, the support year 2025 is almost over, and on the second day of Christmas, even Family Admins have mostly completed their biggest support tasks.

Their work is honored on FamilyAdminDay on December 26th, as the need to keep family IT in order increases, especially at Christmas. Whether it's the brand-new technology that found its way under the tree, or the support needs expressed during visits: the tech admin grabs coffee, cookies, and a search engine, and scans c't and heise online for tips and tricks if they can't solve the problem with prior knowledge alone.

What's important is that it works. And this year, Thomas is here again, talking about his family and his role as a Family Admin.

"Done! This year, everything was there in the last few days. The final sprint began on the 23rd with a visit to the shopping mall, where, above all else, the reverse vending machine stood between my other shopping and me. Is it the bad scanners or the insufficient deposit database: normally it always finds something to annoy me.

This time, however, an elderly gentleman despaired in front of me – he unsuccessfully tried to return a single-use bottle and then a small crate. The machine wouldn't accept either. The queue grew larger.
I stepped forward and asked if I could help:
"Oh, that stupid thing is acting up again!" he said. "I'll help you," I replied, "that crate has annoyed me often enough too."

The scanner doesn't like crumpled empties, so I uncrumpled the plastic bottle that was so stubbornly rejected, gently smoothed the barcode, and carefully inserted it. And lo and behold: analog technical support worked.

The machine unhesitatingly accepted the plastic bottle and sent it for recycling. The 6-pack of water, which the machine seemed to refuse to accept with delight, normally just needed to be inserted at a slight angle – I have a black belt in that, as I drink the same water and have encountered the final boss multiple times. With the confidence of a eunuch in a paternity test, I told the retiree: "We'll slide it in at an angle. It'll work now for sure. I've done it a hundred times!"

And what happened? "Acceptance refused." I imagined I heard a slight chuckle from the machine. At least it now showed what the problem was: one bottle in the crate was still full. I quickly pulled it out, reinserted the crate for checking, and the machine finally ended its resistance. It issued the deposit receipt, and the retiree wished me "Thank you and a Merry Christmas!" on my way. The machine's reluctance also seemed to be broken for the day: it accepted my empties without any issues. May the technology continue to run this smoothly.

At the electronics store, I looked at a small laptop for my daughter Lisa that was on sale. After her Abitur, she'll be going to university next year, and she'll need a reliable digital companion. Although she's learned a lot from her dad and could technically buy it herself, that would spoil the surprise.

I also took a look at a computer for Grandma Hilde. Although I extended the support for her Windows 10 computer by a year, it will definitively end at the end of October 2026. The sales consultant talked my ear off about an additional warranty extension, but I politely declined. After all, I keep an eye on Grandma's hardware problems, and since she bribes me with the best onion cake in the northern hemisphere for it, I look forward to every Family Admin task for her. I'll put something together for her by October. Maybe a switch to Linux will suffice for a few emails and her word processor?

I left the store with the laptop and the receipt and continued on to do my Christmas shopping. Afterwards, the station wagon looked like it was equipped for a polar expedition. After all, this time the family is staying with us.